Well... we are well into year three and so far it has stared off with a bang.
NIH Grant: DONE (Now we wait!) I still maintain that grants might be the work of the devil. They are VERY time consuming but it will be soooo worth it in the end.
Teaching: Going well, students aren't too bad.
Marriage: FOUR YEARS!!! And still going strong.
Oh and one of my best friends had baby! (SOOO cute. I just wish MY ovaries would stop burning.)
Overall... life is good. Hard! But good.
The biggest change since my last post is that I have been working in an STD/HIV clinic. This summer I began training and I cannot quite put into words JUST how much it has changed me. Not only do I work with some of the BEST people in the city but I feel like in a small way I am helping. I LOVE counseling and soon I will undergo training to do the testing as well. THEN I will be able to go out in the field and reach out. I want to do more with college kids. THEY NEED someone to talk to them.
It amazes me how big of a NERD I have become (oh ok I have always been a nerd. Who am I kidding). I love researching HIV prevention. I truly can't get enough of it. And the moments when things click into place offers a HIGH no drug (I am guessing) could offer. For me it is like drinking two pots of coffee (without the gut rot afterward).
But most of all this year has been a year of...metamorphosis. I guess. WOW that is lame and cheesy even to me but it is I guess. I turn 30 soon but even now I feel different. My friend who is kinda Woo Woo (as I like to call it) says that Saturn is returning or something like that. All I know is that I see things a bit different. I don't have the same patience for somethings and unlimited for others. And I am finding that for the most part... I like the woman I have become. I think people would say I am a good person. I try to work hard and always be there for my friends. I am not a "cool kid" and I have made peace that I will never be. I think I have wasted too much time worrying about what other have thought and these past few months I have really given most of that up. YES there are opinions that matter to me, but I have learned that more times then non... MY opinion of me is the one I need to focus on. I will never make everyone happy, but in the end I have to live with myself.
So that is where I am today. Tomorrow... who knows. But for now I am a wife, researcher,mentor(to youth at least) and friend. I like it!
